Raimondo calls on Virginia gov to resign over racist photo

February 2, 2019

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) — Rhode Island’s governor, who heads the national Democratic Governors Association, is joining the chorus of politicians calling on Democratic Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam to resign after a yearbook photo surfaced showing him in a racist costume.

Gov. Gina Raimondo said in statement Saturday Northam can “no longer serve the best interests of Virginians.” She said the characters portrayed in his 1984 medical school yearbook were “not acceptable 30 years ago” and aren’t acceptable today.

Northam’s yearbook entry includes a photo of a man in blackface makeup posing next to one in a Ku Klux Klan outfit.

Northam, who was elected in 2017, said Friday he’s “deeply sorry” and that the racist behavior is “not in keeping with who I am today.” He did not say which costume he was wearing.